New flood warning system works well, county says

Published 6:35 pm, Monday, July 15, 2013

During rain events like Monday's soaking showers, Bexar County officials and residents tune into a high-tech alert system that measures water levels at problematic crossings.

Since HALT, or the High-water Alert Lifesaving Technology system, went online in late May, there have been no high-water rescues at the system's 52 low-water crossings, said Renee Green, director of public works for Bexar County.

“It's just been perfect,” she said. “The reality is we're never going to have enough money to fix every low-water crossing, so these sites were based on their rural location, their relatively high use for a rural road, and that we couldn't warrant a bridge being built. We have to prioritize, and this is a way to address those low-water crossings.”

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At the crossings, sensors in waterways measure the water levels and transmit a signal to a solar-powered control box that then activates flashing lights and, in some locations, a crossing arm descends. Then, Green said, a signal is transmitted to the county's system, and an online map that details each crossing is updated; the system also notifies officials including the county's Emergency Management Coordinator Kyle Coleman, who coordinates the Bexar County Sheriff's Office's response.

The $2.5 million system currently is only operational in unincorporated parts of Bexar County. The project began with 10-pilot sites in 2009, and this year, 42 sites were added. Someday, Green said she hopes to include additional crossings in the county and possibly work with city of San Antonio officials to integrate the city's system with their own.

According to Green, San Antonio has 30 crossings with similar sensors, but unlike Bexar County's system, the city's system only is used internally.

“What we really would like to get to, is all of those systems in one website,” Green said. “We've seen it work really well. If we start getting a bunch of (notification) emails from the system about crossings, we automatically know we have issues.”